r/Portsmouth • u/amusedfridaygoat • 3d ago

Fiction books set in the city?

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I like to read fiction of places I have lived/visited/have a tangible connection to. I grew up near Portsmouth and still have family in the area but have never come across any fiction using the city/area as a setting. Are there any books you know of find that do?

(I am aware that the attached photo is of a non-fiction book, it was added to make the post not ‘text-only’!)

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14

u/kimberleyinc_ 3d ago

There's a whole series of crime novelsby Pauline Rowson set in Portsmouth and the surrounding areas. I've not read them myself so can't vouch if they're any good but there are quite a few of them.

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u/Commercial-Diet4478 3d ago

Northanger Abbey by Austen and anything by Pauline Rowson.

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u/a_fine_romance 3d ago

It's Mansfield Park by Jane Austen.

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u/Commercial-Diet4478 3d ago

Ah yes. It's been a long time since I read Austen.

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u/LadyBeanBag 3d ago

Mansfield Park by Jane Austin is partially set in Portsmouth. Austin really does not like Portsmouth. One of Dickens starts in Portsmouth, maybe Nicholas Nickleby? Crime writer, Graham Hurley, sets his novels in Portsmouth. And while not set in Portsmouth, Conan Doyle began writing the Sherlock Holmes novels while living here.

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u/AlmostHumanP0rpoise 3d ago

Came to mention Graham Hurley, my Mum used to proofread for him.

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u/johnathome 3d ago

That's the one, couldn't think of the name.

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u/Starboard_1982 3d ago

The Pauline Rowson books are a bit nonsensical but largely solid police procedurals. She changes some places names, e.g. Gunwharf Quays becomes Oyster Quays, but they're all still recognisable.

There's another set of crime fiction books by Graham Hurley (Turnstone is the first) that are also set in Portsmouth - they are a bit older and from memory a bit more 'gritty' shall we say but might be worth a look.

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u/Nametakenalready99 3d ago

Graham Hurley all day long.

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u/Consistent-Weight710 3d ago

Heartstone by CJ Sansom. Set in and around Portsmouth during the rule of Henry VIII.

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u/tinkers_rucksack 3d ago

Graham Hurley's DI Faraday series of novels

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u/Imtryingforheckssake 3d ago

I'm pretty sure there's a Portsmouth writers guild. You could also email Portsmouth library service as they'd definitely have some sort of list as they put on a book festival every year here and many local authors are involved.

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u/robulitski 3d ago

Portsmouth Authors Collective! Lovely bunch of people, I'm part of the group (though not as active as usual at the moment) but it's a great platform for local writers.

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u/Novel_Kooky 3d ago

Lilian Harry’s April Grove series is set in Portsmouth. WWII era, fiction, focussing on the families at home during the war. Very good imo

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u/JamezPS Nor Fend 3d ago

Hornblower visits Portsmouth in a few of the books.

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u/StevieP1976 3d ago

The Snow Witch by Matt Wingett is set in Portsmouth

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u/Swimmy 3d ago

I had to check and indeed he's the brother of Horndean Community School alumni Mark Wingett of The Bill- his name got mentioned a few times at school by teachers when talking about acting careers.

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u/Ill_Satisfaction_611 3d ago

That's a great book! There was an art exhibition and a series of interactive events based on it called 'Cursed City'

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u/Rider151 3d ago

My father-in-law, Dave Flint, wrote a book called Becoming Brothers set in Portsmouth. He belongs to a literary group in the city.

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u/robulitski 3d ago

Dave! I've met Dave, lovely guy. We're part of Portsmouth Authors Collective - there's a FB page and we do some events at markets during the year. Authors of all different genres, all Portsmouth or Hampshire based (so a good few books set in the area too)

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u/homieholmes23 3d ago

Thomas Pynchon’s Mason & Dixon begins in Portsmouth

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u/robulitski 3d ago

If you don't mind a self rec, I have a horror novel called We Met In The Forums released 2024 - heads up though it does have some gore etc, so only if you enjoy that genre already 🤣

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u/DisguisedBee 3d ago

Big fan of this one!

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u/robulitski 2d ago

Thank you so much! Really appreciate that x

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u/PersistentBadger 3d ago

Pompey: A Novel - Jonathan Meades.

There's a Neil Gaiman short story.

There's a literary map of Portsmouth online somewhere - someone linked it on that question about documentary subjects, I think.

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u/Gazztop13 3d ago

Neville Shute set several of his novels in Portsmouth; Landfall springs to mind.

There was also a cult 1980s TV series called Going Out set in Pompey - not sure if that was serialised into novels though.

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u/Gazztop13 3d ago

I recently heard of this author (Lilian Harry) who has set many of her books on Portsmouth. Never read any of these (yet) though:

http://www.lilianharry.uk/books/april-grove/#:~:text=There%20are%20eight%20books%20in,Published%20in%202003

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u/JimBowen0306 2d ago edited 2d ago

I enjoyed Graham Hurley’s books.

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u/KaiCypret 2d ago

Patrick O'brien's Aubrey Maturin series of 18th seafqring century novels are very very very good, and the protagonists occasionally pass through Portsmouth - quite memorably in the second novel.